Improving access and addressing barriers to HPV vaccination for adolescents and young adults

Despite the potential to prevent cervical cancer and genital warts, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates remain low among adolescents and young adults. While approximately half of those eligible will initiate the three-dose vaccine series, only one in three will complete the series within one year. Poor and minority youth are less likely to initiate or complete the vaccine series; only one in 10 women ages 12 to 26 who live at or below the poverty level have been vaccinated against HPV. In September 2012, California Family Health Council (CFHC) was awarded funding from the Office of Population Affairs to develop a program to address barriers that contribute to low HPV vaccination rates among adolescents and young adults in California. A needs assessment was conducted among Title X-funded health care organizations in California; the results guided a multi-pronged programmatic approach. Clinic-level interventions included a webinar focused on clinical strategies to improve access to and completion rates of the HPV vaccine series, paper and electronic clinic reminder systems to eliminate missed opportunities for vaccination, and increased utilization of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program. Client-level interventions included the development of client reminder cards with targeted messaging about the importance of completing the three-dose vaccination series, and an automated system for HPV vaccination reminders via text message or email. The next phase of the project will include training and technical assistance at 15 to 20 pilot sites, and the development of a toolkit for improving HPV vaccination services in diverse clinical settings.